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afrol.com, 13 February - Today marked the arrival of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, in Sierra Leone. Lubbers has already made the controversial statement that he is ready "to open contacts with the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as part of his efforts to alleviate the suffering of refugees on the Guinea border." Lubbers made this statement in an interview with the BBC today, knowing that these possible direct contacts with the rebel/terrorist group would be a blow to the policy of the Sierra Leonean government, trying to isolate the RUF internationally until they have disarmed. The direct involvement of the RUF in Guinea, where currently 200,000 refugees and internally displaced are trapped between the front lines, is the cause behind Lubbers' initiative. He has proposed to create a "safe corridor" for the large number of displaced to enable international agencies to provide aid and protection. To achieve such a "safe corridor", the cooperation of all parties will be necessary. The High Commissioner is on a round trip to West Africa to address the serious refugee crisis in the border area of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Lubbers arrived from Conakry, Guinea and will carry on to Monrovia (Liberia) on Thursday. On 12 February, Lubbers met with Guinean president Conté. In Conakry, he told reporters that the international community was failing to do enough to help the refugees, and appealed for more assistance. "I do think that international support for our operations is too minimal. It just is not enough. We have to do more," said Lubbers. During the meeting with president Lansana Conte, Mr. Lubbers won Guinea’s pledge to co-operate with the UN agancy on ensuring a passage to safer areas for thousands of refugees stranded in Guinea’s volatile southwest. In Freetown, Sierra Leone, Lubbers immediately met senior UN officials, including Lt-Gen Daniel Opande, the force commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), and visited the Jui transit camp, which caters for Sierra Leonean returnees from Guinea, the UN agency IRIN reported. Lubbers is also scheduled to meet President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Sierra Leonean Information Minister, Dr. Julius Spencer, today commented on Lubber's plans to create a 'safe corridor' as a possibility "provided all the parties agree to cooperate". He however emphasized that contacts with the RUF should go via the UNAMSIL peacekeepers. "If UNAMSIL were to deploy troops in that area, it should make it even easier. And that is something we've been urging for a while," Dr. Spencer said.
Refugees and locals from the town of Guéckédou and surrounding villages fled their settlements when the attacks started. After the counterattack by Guinean government troops, an estimated 200,000 displaced have been trapped between the frontline and the Sierra Leonean border. This part of Sierra Leone is occupied by RUF terrorists, making a passing through too risky for the refugees. There are reports of rape and torture of refugees who have tried to pass through the area. It is for these displaced Mr. Lubbers wants to create a "safe corridor". The UN refugy agency (UNHCR) began a relocation movement on Tuesday last week from the Katkama and Nyaedou camps, in Guinea's troubled border regions. So far around 4,000 refugees have been relocated to a newly established site in Kountaya, in the Albadaria Prefecture. On Monday, UNHCR was able to move 314 most vulnerable refugees from the ruins of the former Katkama camp where thousands of refugees went after fleeing Nyaedou. Despite logistical setbacks, the operation went smoothly. Meanwhile, ten of thousands of other Sierra Leonean refugees have managed to return to their country on safer routes. So far more than 30,000 Sierra Leonean refugees have returned to Sierra Leone. 10,000 have gone back on boats chartered by the UN refugee agency, while more than 20,000 have returned on their own. Most arrive at transit camps or host communities in Lungi, just north of Freetown. Ruud Lubbers today to the opportunity to talk to some of them. "He listened to returnees, some of whom were worried about the planned places of resettlement," a UN official said. In a BBC interview Sierra Leonean Information Minister Julius Spencer today stressed that his government's ability to help the refugees at the border was limited. It had, however, "made arrangements for those who could get to Conakry to be brought back to Freetown where they're being taken care of. But our resources are extremely limited," he said.
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The regional refugee crisis is one of the most comprehensive and fragile in the world. Guinea has been the host for half a million refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia for several years. Since terrorists backed by the RUF and Liberia started attacking Guinean border towns, villages and refugee camps in September 2000, the country has experienced its own crisis of displaced people.
